Diazo compounds, carbenoids derived

There are several examples of intramolecular reactions of monocyclic /3-lactams with carbenes or carbenoids most of these involve formation of olivanic acid or clavulanic acid derivatives. Thus treatment of the diazo compound (106) with rhodium(II) acetate in benzene under reflux gives (107), an intermediate in the synthesis of thienamycin (80H(14)1305, 80TL2783). 

Aziridines have been synthesized, albeit in low yield, by copper-catalyzed decomposition of ethyl diazoacetate in the presence of an inline 260). It seems that such a carbenoid cyclopropanation reaction has not been realized with other diazo compounds. The recently described preparation of 1,2,3-trisubstituted aziridines by reaction of phenyldiazomethane with N-alkyl aldimines or ketimines in the presence of zinc iodide 261 > most certainly does not proceed through carbenoid intermediates rather, the metal salt serves to activate the imine to nucleophilic attack from the diazo carbon. Replacement of Znl2 by one of the traditional copper catalysts resulted in formation of imidazoline derivatives via an intermediate azomethine ylide261). 

It has been widely accepted that the carbene-transfer reaction using a diazo compound and a transition metal complex proceeds via the corresponding metal carbenoid species. Nishiyama et al. characterized spectroscopically the structure of the carbenoid intermediate that underwent the desired cyclopropanation with high enantio- and diastereoselectivity, derived from (91).254,255 They also isolated a stable dicarbonylcarbene complex and demonstrated by X-ray analysis that the carbene moiety of the complex was almost parallel in the Cl—Ru—Cl plane and perpendicular to the pybox plane (vide infra).255 These results suggest that the rate-determining step of metal-catalyzed cyclopropanation is not carbenoid formation, but the carbene-transfer reaction.254... 

Carbenoids derived from the metal catalysed decomposition of diazo compounds undergo various chemical transformations. Control of chemoselectivity by choice of the appropriate catalyst has significantly increased the synthetic viability of catalytic cyclopropanation reactions. Intermolecular reaction of unsaturated alcohols with carbenoids derived from catalytic decomposition of alkyl diazoesters has been reported by Noels and... 

A vast array of chiral catalysts have been developed for the enantioselective reactions of diazo compounds but the majority has been applied to asymmetric cyclopropanations of alkyl diazoacetates [2]. Prominent catalysts for asymmetric intermolecular C-H insertions are the dirhodium tetraprolinate catalysts, Rh2(S-TBSP)4 (la) and Rh2(S-DOSP)4 (lb), and the bridged analogue Rh2(S-biDOSP)2 (2) [7] (Fig. 1). A related prolinate catalyst is the amide 3 [8]. Another catalyst that has been occasionally used in intermolecular C-H activations is Rh2(S-MEPY)4 (4) [9], The most notable catalysts that have been used in enantioselective ylide transformations are the valine derivative, Rh2(S-BPTV)4 (5) [10], and the binaphthylphosphate catalysts, Rh2(R-BNP)4 (6a) and Rh2(R-DDNP)4 (6b) [11]. All of the catalysts tend to be very active in the decomposition of diazo compounds and generally, carbenoid reactions are conducted with 1 mol % or less of catalyst loading [1-3]. 

The Cu(I)-catalyzed decomposition of (alkynyloxysilyl)diazoacetates 119 furnishes the silaheterocycles 120 and/or 121 (equation 30) in modest yield63. In these cases, the photochemical extrusion of nitrogen from 119 does not lead to defined products and the thermal reaction is dominated by the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition ability of these diazo compounds. In mechanistic terms, carbene 122 or more likely a derived copper carbene complex, is transformed into cyclopropene 123 by an intramolecular [1 + 2] cycloaddition to the triple bond. The strained cyclopropene rearranges to a vinylcarbene either with an exo-cyclic (124) or an endocyclic (125) carbene center, and typical carbene reactions then lead to the observed products. Analogous carbene-to-carbene rearrangements are involved in carbenoid transformations of other alkynylcarbenes64. 

While most of the initial studies have involved the transition metal-catalyzed decomposition of a-carbonyl diazo compounds and have been reviewed [3-51], it appears appropriate to highlight again some milestones of these transformations, since polycyclic structures could be nicely assembled from acyclic precursors in a single step. Two main reactivities of metalo carbenoids derived from a-carbonyl diazo precursors, namely addition to a C - C insaturation (olefin or alkyne) and formation of a ylid (carbonyl or onium), have been the source of fruitful cascades. Both of these are illustrated in Scheme 27 [52]. The two diazo ketone functions present in the same substrate 57 and under the action of the same catalyst react in two distinct ways. The initially formed carbenoid adds to a pending olefin to form a bi-cyclop. 1.0] intermediate 58 that subsequently cyclizes to produce a carbonyl ylide 59, that is further trapped intramolecularly in a [3 + 2] cycloaddition. The overall process gives birth to a highly complex pentacyclic structure 60. 

Treatment of thioketone 635 with a-diazo carbonyl compounds in the presence of Rh2(OAc)4 gives 3-aminothio-phenes 637. Condensation of the ketene acetal with carbenoids, derived from diazo compounds, produces the intermediates 636, which undergo an intramolecular cyclization and subsequent aromatization to afford 637 (Scheme 95) <2002J(P1)2414, 20020L873>. 

The thermocatalytic Rh(ll) decomposition of diazo malonate in the presence of 3-phenyl-2/7-azirine 772d was proposed to give rise to an azirinium ylide 803 <2004TL6003>. This reactive ylide is preferentially transformed into 2-azabuta-l,3-diene derivative 804 or, with excess diazo compound, via reaction with the Rh-carbenoid, forms the 3,4-dihydro-2/7-pyrrole derivative 806 via intermediate 805 (Scheme 196). 

Not only diazo compounds, but also )8-ketosulfoxonium ylides can be converted to carbenoids capable of undergoing intramolecular N—H insertion to form pyrrolidine derivatives. Thus, ylide 60 (n = 1) was treated with a rhodium(II) catalyst in boiling benzene to give proline derivative... 

An intramolecular cyclization of a carbenoid to a six-membered carbonyl ylide followed by its rearrangement provides access to both 1,3- and 1,4-oxazine derivatives. Thus, the Cu-mediated reaction of diazo compound 596 (R = Me, C02Me) gives the corresponding 1,3-oxazinone 597 in 48 and 59% yield, respectively (80H1999). 

The carbocyclic [6-7] core of guanacastepenes was prepared by. D. Trauner et al. using the intramolecular reaction between carbenoids derived from diazo carbonyl compounds and furans. The required diazo carbonyl substrate was synthesized using p-acetamidobenzenesulfonyl azide (p-ABSA) as the diazo-donor component in the Regitz diazo transfer reaction. 

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